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How to Successfully Settle Student Debt: A Comprehensive Overview

Step-by-step guide on how to successfully settle student debt and regain financial control.

In India, students take loans to help finance their higher education both domestically or abroad. Cost of higher education in a private institution in India may cost anywhere between $ 60,000 to $ 100,000 for 4 years. A semester abroad through a third party provider could cost between $ 15,000 to $ 22,000.  These student loans cover the cost of their education, living expenses, travel, and equipment like laptops. Students are assessed based on their academic performance, the chosen course and institution. When you settle your student debt, you need to exercise financial discipline, leverage all your financial resources, and negotiate successfully with your lenders. Settling your student debt successfully is important as it has a tremendous influence on your credit score which can impinge on various areas of your career. You also must balance such payments with other financial priorities such as meeting your living expenses and creating savings. 

Settle My Loan is a well-established settlement company which can guide through the entire process of paying off or settling your student loan.

RBI guidelines governing student loans in India

  • An education loan is not the same as a personal loan and as such, have a separate set of guidelines
  • RBI acknowledges the challenges faced by students in paying student loans and tries to facilitate fair and transparent settlements
  • RBI guidelines provide for making settlements for student loans using the one-time payment option. RBI guidelines prevent undue harassment of borrowers of education loans. You must make yourself aware of all the eligibility criteria under this before applying for certain settlement options.
  • Lenders must follow fair practices and prevent undue harassment of borrowers. Borrowers also have the option to address grievances through RBI’s complaint mechanism.
  • There are several Supreme Court judgements which act as a guide and clarify any legal ambiguities in issues facing borrowers and lenders.

Comprehensive guide to settling student loans

We start the discussion of this topic with some tips for achieving financial stability while in debt. 

Understand your student loan

This means knowing all nuances of your student loans including the interest rate, outstanding balance and the balance number of payments remaining, the type of the loan whether a student loan or a personal loan, penalties for prepayment and nonpayment etc.

Completely evaluate your financial position

Calculate your total income versus living expenses to determine your repayment capacity, check your emergency fund savings, and see if you can supplement your primary income with secondary income sources.

How to settle student loans effectively - Explore debt payment strategies

One-time settlement where you pay a lumpsum payment which is lower than the total outstanding amount of the loan. Loan restructuring where your lender agrees to revise either the interest rates or the maturity period, prepayment where you pay off the loan in full before the end of the tenure. 

Some of these actions may have an adverse impact on your credit score but result in potential savings of interest payable and reduce the total outstanding loan. In settling your student loans, the best repayment plans for student loans include the following guidelines that are helpful:

  • Pay more than what is due at the end of the month. This way your outstanding loan balance can reduce faster.

     

  • See if you can pay bi-weekly instead of making monthly payments

     

  • To ensure that you don’t miss paying any loan instalment, sign up for autopay. This way payments are deducted from your bank account automatically

     

  • Consider options to refinance high interest student loans and consolidate the loans to make for easier payments and lower interest burden.

     

  • If you have borrowed from several sources, consider a debt avalanche strategy for loan payments. Under this, the high interest loan instalments are paid off first considerably reducing your debt burden

     

  • Consider asking your employer for assistance to meet the loan payments

     

  • There are government schemes like the Central Scheme of Interest Subsidy if you belong to the economically weak category, and education loan repayment assistance from some state governments.

     

  • Use Income tax rules like Section 80E for interest deduction for calculating the total tax payable.

     

  • Do better student loan management by avoiding common pitfalls like taking additional loans, missed payments, defaulting without communication all of which can lead to legal action.

     

  • All these debt solutions and strategies will lead to quick financial stability. 

Budgeting Strategies for student loan repayment

Some budgeting tips for achieving financial stability include carrying out an exhaustive financial planning and budgeting exercise which will analyse the various components of your income and expenses. Eliminate all non-essential expenses, and also try to sell non-critical assets.

Monitor your credit report and credit score regularly

Monitoring your credit score is very important, as post settlement of your education loan, the score can reduce temporarily. 

Understanding student loans forgiveness options in India

The CSIS scheme has already been mentioned where the eligibility is an annual family income of less than Rs 4.5 lakh. Loans must be taken under the Indian Bank’s Association Model Education Loan Scheme only for studies in India. Tamil Nadu and Kerala have Loan waivers and schemes for farmers’ children. RBI can also waive student loan payments if there are severe natural calamities. Default and other legal provisions include approaching the Debt Recovery Tribunal or Lok Adalat for a compromise settlement. Also, explore scholarship possibilities under different schemes.

Conclusion

Overcoming the financial challenges with student loans is not an easy task but exploring the different debt relief options for managing educational loans effectively, while navigating student loan repayment plans, identify different financial wellness tips for avoiding new debt while settling existing debts. The importance of budgeting during loan repayment and maintaining financial discipline in managing student debt cannot be underemphasised. 

Settle My Loan is an excellent financial and legal advisory agency which offers professional advice to make debt settlements of your student loans. Don’t hesitate! Contact Settle My Loan today to take steps to achieve a debt free life after college today!

A blending of approaches is the smartest thing to do. Payments should be paid regularly and in time, and wherever possible pay as much as the EMI, and minimize the principal with that. Look at such opportunities such as employing tax advantages of Section 80E, pre-pay in lump-sum in case of a windfall, or, in case of a financial emergency, look at a structured settlement via an agented service.

Student loan settlement can take the form of discussing with your lender to pay less as a part of full and final settlement. This normally occurs when you are in a bad financial situation and unable to pay your initial repayment amount. With the help of a professional agency, a legal and effective solution can be worked out, explained step by step how to collect the required documents, how to make a realistic offer, and formalize the deal.

The three really good strategies would be to be diligent about budgeting so that you know how much cash you are spending and put aside some of it as repayment money. Secondly, making payments of more than what you are supposed to pay minimum payments to cut-off the principal levels more and cut out on the interest. Finally, when one is hard off, it would be worth considering an income-based repayment plan or as a last resort, use a professional settlement provider that would help reduce payoff.

In case you want to settle your education loan, then presenting real financial hardship to your lender is required. This is usually achieved by reaching out to them, and informing them about your case, and presenting a formal proposal to settle at a low amount. Otherwise, this process can be simplified by communicating with a specialist service such as Settle My Loan. They shall also handle the negotiations on your behalf taking into consideration necessary legal requirements to be addressed so as to organize a perfect final settlement.

The key to successfully repaying the debt on a student loan is to be financially disciplined on a regular basis, and to be proactive as well as somewhat knowledgeable concerning your repayment plan. This involves being aware of your loan terms, having a realistic budget, and most importantly not being afraid of turning to professional help through services such as Settle My Loan in case repayment actually gets out of hand so that you can be sure you have made realistic choices in your financial future.

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